[protext] Suggested edits to proTeXt intro document by Feuerstack

[Bill Cowhig]

Hi,

I downloaded and installed proTeXt  a day or so ago and printed out and used Thomas Feuerstack's really nice installation guide, the interactive PDF document called "The Quickest Way to a TeX System." i TRULY appreciate the effort that Mr. Feuerstack put into this handy guide. What follows should be taken as an attempt to be helpful, and definitely NOT criticism. I LIKED that document so much I want to help improve it.

My OCD tendancies make me collect typos, edits, suggestions, whatever, as if my prior technical writing experience were still at play, whenever and every time I read a technical document, and I've done it yet again. Chancing that you might be interested in maintaining that document, I want to send information to you, and will do so in this email, just after this paragraph (The items in the list were numbered in Word, but that got lost in cut and paste):



Errata and/or suggestions for the proTeXt installation document:


The Quickest Way to a
TeX System based on  MiKTeX, TeXnicCenter,
Ghostscript, and GSview by Thomas Feuerstack. 

(Note: I started with a download, so all references to the CD in this document
are inappropriate for my case):

 

1.     
Page numbers missing {2, 4, 15, 20}, where each
new section started {Contents, 1 Welcome. . ., 2 Extensions, 3
Addresses/References}

2.     
Page 6, paragraph #5, the font on the word “Buttons” is different than the other
topic headings.

3.     
Page 6, “click here to install. . .” the
descriptive text below that suggested that the user just arbitrarily try out the “install” at this point is getting
ahead of the cart, and is not useful, but confusing, and maybe kind of dangerous.

4.     
Page 6, 1.4 “nothing should go wrong” makes it
seem like “nothing will go wrong,” which wasn’t my experience.

5.     
Page 4, end of 1.1 General – Strongly suggest
adding the comment, found later, “ don’t begin any of the installation
processes until you have read this document carefully at least once.”

6.     
Page 8, first paragraph, suggest changing “infinitely”
to “indefinitely.”

7.     
Page 8, Fig. 1.3 
the “Install MiKTeX to:” test box contains “C:\Program Files\MiKTeX
2.8\miktex\bin.” That presented me with a problem. When I installed MiKTeX this
text field displayed “C:\Program Files (x86)” rather than “Program Files.” On
my machine, there existed both “Program Files” and “Program Files (x86), both
created on 7/13/2009, for what it’s worth. I reran the setup several times and
concluded by fixing the directories such that the bin files ended up being
loaded at “Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.8\miktex\bin”. I am running Microsoft
Windows 7 Home Premium edition.

8.     
Page 8, Settings à
MiKTeX was not in the list of programs at the top level, when you select “All
Programs” and get the program list. In that list there were “folders” for MiKTeX, Ghostgum, and Ghostscript.
Opening the MiKTeX folder showed:
Previewer, TeXworks, Help, Maintenance, Maintenance (Admin), and MiKTex on the
Web. Opening Maintenance (Admin)
folder showed: Package Manager, Settings, and Update. That’s probably all right, but
the document should indicate that you are looking for FOLDERs in the program
list.

9.     
MiKTeX Options:  
Packages:   Looking at one of the tabs I got a MiKTeX problem
report: Unknown Package: Data: historische-zeitschrigft.

10.  
After all was installed and I had a DDE problem,
I did a system Update and found that all of the packages were out of date, and
they were updated. The DDE problem, however, is still hanging around.

11.  
Problem reported by TeXnicCenter:    Cannot
execute the command  [DocOpen (“%bm.pdf”)] [FileOpen (%bm.pdf”)]
   This pops up very late in the cycle,
long after the output has been generated.

12.  
As a check on my setup, perhaps to help figure out my problem, let me give you the list
of MiKTeX maintained Root Directories:   1)
C:\Users\Dahlia\AppData\Roaming\MiKTeX\2.8; 2)
C:\Users\Dahlia\AppData\Local\MiKTeX\2.8; 3) C:\Program Data\MiKTeX\2.8; and 4)
C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.8

13.  
Page 9, 1.5.4, for the uninitiated (or just
plain dumb?) it would be nice to know a little more about “Local TEXMF Tree”
that “some people remember?” I have never even heard of this before reading
this document. A) What is it for? B) How does it work? C) What are the three
directories grouped together in C:\Documents
and Settings for and why are they mentioned?

14.  
Back to the Settings à Roots thing. That list of
root directories is confusing to me. Could it be explained just a little?

15.  
Page 9, 1.6, “You can also run TeX and view the
results with a couple of simple clicks.” Using what “Viewer”? What file format
are we looking at? Is TeXnicCenter
still at Beta?

16.  
Page 10 – Install Note: “You really can’t do
anything wrong. . .” seemed a bit silly to me, considering that I was pretty
much working in the dark from the moment I tried to install MiKTeX and it
wanted to go to the incorrect directory and then would say something like some other directory didn’t exist, and certainly after I tried to initially actually
do something and out came Cannot execute
the command OpenDoc.  .  .

17.  
Page 11, Fig. 1.5, again with the (x86) thingy.

18.  
Page 12, paragraph #3, could that be elaborated
just a little?

Best regards,

Bill Cowhig
Durham, NC  USA

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